Fierce Blood slammed his fists on the wall, "Goddamned it, just what is going on here? Who is attacking?" His eyes flashed in a cruel light. Little did he know that the ant that he disregarded earlier was the Asura who slaughtered his subordinates. Karthus' stared at Fierce Blood and the gazes of the two met in mid-air as the latter snapped, "Since the barrier is broken already, what the fuck are you doing in here?! I paid you to do your work but you're standing there like a goddamned pole!"
Karthus' expression flushed red in anger and humiliation. As a second-tier Assassin of the Black Wing Gang, almost everyone in this area respected him, but this bastard. Even though he paid for my service, I won't let myself, suffer this humiliation anymore.
Since he belonged to the Black Wing Gang. The unanimous strongest organization that governed the Desert Wilderness Bazaar, how could he let someone degrade him like this? Taking a cloth bag from his Spatial Storage Device, he hurled it at Fierce Blood and said, "Since you're not even seeing me as having an equal position as yours, Let's end this deal," He coldly spat and turned around.
Fierce Blood's expression changed, he turned around and his expression turned from anger into a fawning one as he said, "No, no, no, I apologize for what I said, Mister Karthus, I'm just disoriented because of the unpredictable events that happened earlier..." He explained but Karthus merely stared at him before snorting and jumping from the top of the tower, onto the ground.
Witnessing the disappearance of his paid mercenary, Fierce Blood chuckled, his expression revealed his complicated emotions, "Good, good, good..." Staring at the distancing silhouette of Karthus, "Just a measly dog of the Black Wing Gang actually dares to cross me...We'll see..."
"And as for this bitch, Caitlyn..." He coldly stared at the commotion down below, "I promise you that you will not be able to capture this flag of mine..." He turned around and placed a Formation Disc beside the Flag. Infusing his Qi inside the Formation Disc, a heart-palpitating energy surged from the Disc as numerous resplendent runes materialized in the air.
When the runes dissipated into the Flag, Fierce Blood revealed a vicious smile, "Let's see how you capture this flag of mine, Caitlyn..." He mumbled before turning around and heading towards the third line of defense.
Meanwhile, back in the main battle area. A scene of absolute slaughter greeted the incoming invaders. Caitlyn knitted her eyebrows and her subordinates stared at the scene in shock. After they penetrated the barrier, they stopped using their explosives so tranquility returned in the area. However, this intensified the eerie atmosphere that lingered in the air and paired with the sight of numerous corpses dying with regrets and despair, even the battle-hardened men couldn't help but become sick.
"Just what happened in here? Could it be that they became crazy and killed themselves?" One of the men spoke up, but Caitlyn shook her head and dismissed the idea, "There should be an expert that helped us kill our enemies. As to who he is, I have no idea why..." She regained her calm yet her expression still wrinkled due to the strong smell of rust that wafted in the air.
"But there's only one thing that's for sure, and that is," Caitlyn glanced at her subordinates, "That expert is definitely not an enemy..." The men nodded their heads, they had guessed that far and Caitlyn's words only confirmed the theory that they had in their minds.
"Then what are we going to do now? Miss Boss?" One man spoke up and Caitlyn glanced at him before saying, "We'll keep up our attacks but those injuries should stay here and collect the spoils of war," The severely injured men who stood wobbly revealed expressions of relief. One of them even sat on the ground and leaned on a wooden wall as he tended on his wounds.
"Those who can still fight shall come with me and capture the enemy flag since we've come this far already, We will go through and earn glory for ourselves, We'll make everyone know that the Tyrannical Jollibee Gang is not a push-over Gang..." Caitlyn's eyes flashed in seriousness and so did the men whose fervor shot higher towards the skies.
Carrying their weapons, they marched towards the third line of defense that encircled the tower.
...
Dan leaped roof after roof and eventually arrived at the place where Charlotte waited for him. There, she saw the young maiden looking quite bored. "I'm sorry I took longer than I thought. However, everything's fine now, I repaid my debt with Caitlyn already so we should probably go now..."
Charlotte stared at him before saying, "So you repaid your debt with her, already?" Her tone contained several different meanings that only she, recognized.
Dan nodded his head in response, "Yeah, I helped her defeat her enemies but she doesn't know that I was the one who helped her. I don't really want to attract unnecessary trouble..." When Dan remembered the time where he clashed against Karthus, he revealed a wry smile and thought. 'When there's free time I will definitely cultivate...'
"So you repaid your debt, but how about me? I still haven't thanked her for sheltering me these past days so I will be going there and thank her for what she did, " Her words dumbfounded Dan and Charlotte stared at his dumbfounded expression, "What's wrong? Is there something wrong about what I said?"
"Nope, there's nothing wrong, but I hope that you don't approach her, after all, we took the initiative in separating ourselves from them and it would be awkward to just pop out there and take the glory for ourselves..." Dan replied and Charlotte obediently nodded her head which made Dan wonder if she really was the real Charlotte or if he was speaking to a doppelganger.
The two then dashed towards the distant tower, all the while taking advantage of the surrounding residential homes to prevent themselves from being noticed by Caitlyn's subordinates. Soon, the two of them arrived at the roof of a two-floored building where they could completely see the battlefield.
Sitting on the roof, the two sat beside each other and observed the fight. Charlotte realized this fact and as a young maiden, her expression turned somehow fidgety but Dan became as dense as the Earth and focused on recovering his Qi Reserves. But of course, he still instructed the System to constantly scan the area around them and inform him if there's an approaching person whose power could threaten them.
Back at the main battle area, Caitlyn activated a semi-transparent barrier which encompassed all of her one hundred remaining comrades. Staring at the distant tower, she found that there was about a hundred and fifty Fierce Bulls Gang member staring at her with vicious lights within their eyes.
"Wait, Mortal Grade Artifact Armors?" Caitlyn reeled in shock. She didn't expect that such a small Gang like the Fierce Bulls Gang would have the capital to buy those expensive Defensive Artifacts. A single set of those alone would cost, thousands of gold coins yet they managed to arm fifteen of their elite members.
"Squad A, when we engage, Me and all of you shall focus those fifteen. The other squads should aim to cause the highest damage as possible... " Caitlyn's squads were divided into two namely, Close-Combat and Ranged-Combat Squad.
She placed those proficient in such field in the appropriate squad assignment so that they could display the highest possible performance that they could. Dishing out her instructions, all squad members nodded their heads as the battle cries of both Gangs surged through the air.
The members of Squad A to C followed Caitlyn while the other squads maintained their distance and focused their artillery fire towards the enemy artilleries. Flanking the enemies, Caitlyn and her other subordinates displayed their utmost cooperation.
In mere seconds, five of the elite Artifact equipped members of the Fierce Bulls Gang, crumbled upon their switching style assault. Using this kind of technique, they could minimize the individual damage that they would get while maximizing the amount of damage as possible.
Fierce Blood started as his subordinates started dying, one after another. His expression looked solemn and pious yet his faintly trembling shoulders indicated the anger and shame that he felt. Clenching his fists, he leaped in the air, formed a mudra with his hands and mumbled,
"Divine Art: Ghost Invades the Land!" A burst of black mist surged from his body and his figure transformed into a transparent apparition that could not be damaged by the chemical explosives nor touched by physical attacks.
"Bastards! Since you already came this far, it would be a shame if..." Fierce Blood viciously glanced at the horrified men, "Someone destroyed all of your plans..." He continued in a cold voice as his figure reappeared like a ghost behind a man and instantly beheaded him, sending his head rolling towards the gutter.
Caitlyn's expression turned pale, "Retreat! Retreat! Everyone, go retreat now!" She shouted and her scream made all the bodies of his subordinates tremble in shock. The sudden reversal that happened shook everyone to their core as Fierce Blood continued his slaughter.
In a blink of an eye, merely thirty men remained from the original fifty men as Caitlyn and her comrades desperately ran towards the opposite direction. Even though her cultivation and the leader of the Fierce Bulls Gang's cultivation was the same, they could not be compared in the same breathe due to him having a Divine Art.
A Divine Art could enable anyone to cross realms. How could it not defeat someone who has the same realm as him? Fierce Blood chuckled and the sight of his enemies retreating in despair satisfied his vanity. However, his murderous desires still raged as he madly chased.
Because of his wraith form. The surrounding homes didn't obstruct his figure as he could walk through walls. Because of this, even though he moved slower than the members of the Tyrannical Jollibee Gang. He could still catch up and reap their lives due to his cheat.
Rotating her cultivation base to the utmost limit. Caitlyn shared her power towards her subordinate, temporarily raising their physical prowess along with their speed. But still, to her despair, she could still see the figure of Fierce Blood whose expression contorted into a lustful and murderous one.
"You're mine, you're mine, you're mine now, Caitlyn!!!" He screamed in a grating voice which evoked a sense of fear towards the listeners. Urging his cultivation base, his speed intensified and in a blink of an eye, he reappeared in the air above Caitlyn as the former stared at him with a light of terror and despair within her eyes.
'Is this really the end? Are we gonna die here?' She thought as the time around her moved infinitely slower than before. Glancing at the distorted faces of her subordinates. She begrudgingly clenched her fists, 'No, I can't die here, goddamned it, I still haven't accomplished my revenge! How could I die here!'
'If not for the existence of that Divine Art...'
'If not for that...'
She violently cursed inside her mind and even pleaded the heavens to help her. But still, the outcome was the same as Fierce Blood's attack neared her body. At this point in time, she slowly closed her eyes as a momentary burst of tranquility surged through her mind.
'So this is what it feels like to be in the brink of death,' She bitterly chuckled inside and her body revoked all sorts of resistance from the incoming force. But just as she resigned to her fate, two familiar screams of men pulled her back to reality.
"Blessing of the Lightning God: Manifestation!"
"Soaring Phoenix Method: Phoenix Descent!"
An explosion of azure and crimson light painted the night skies in an aurora of power which condensed together, forming the image of an Azure Dragon that coiled around with a Phoenix. The Dragon roared and the Phoenix shrieked as the earth itself, trembled from their might.